In Gaza, the Israeli army attacks the Holy Family Parish

Soldiers reportedly entered the Catholic compound and shot anyone leaving the church. The victims were an elderly woman and her daughter, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Israel justifies the attack, still in progress, by citing the presence of a missile launcher in the parish.

Israeli operations are underway near the Holy Family parish complex in the northern Gaza Strip, where 700 evacuees have taken refuge. The building is surrounded by soldiers and Israeli army snipers. An initial assessment, reported by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, reported 2 deaths – an elderly woman and her daughter – and 5 injured.

According to leaked information, the operation was justified by the presence of missile launchers in the parish. The Church of the Holy Family is the only Latin Catholic parish in Gaza in the Palestinian enclave.

Among the victims are Naheda and her daughter Samar, who came to take refuge in the parish of the Holy Family in Gaza.

Earlier on the night of Friday December 15 to Saturday December 16, tank fire injured a woman’s legs and two other people were lightly hit around the parish. The explosion also hit the electrical generator of the house of Mother Teresa’s nuns, who, despite the difficulties, continue their work with around fifty disabled children, now evacuated because part of the building is uninhabitable.

The Palestinian media then reported intense Israeli bombings across the entire strip, with a toll of 14 victims, in addition to the 18,800 deaths recorded by Hamas since October 7.

Vatican News